


Bloodstains

by Flightless_Bird



Series: Stitches [8]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Angst, Dana is still mayor, Desert Bluffs, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Mutilation, Mentions of Character Death, Mentions of Violence, Other, Post-Strex Kevin, Vanessa was a good intern, crushes....??, dana is embarrassed, intern vanessa - Freeform, kevin is bi, kevin is confused, kevin is not human, mandy is a bitch, stitches au, this was supposed to be short and look what happened, very light on the angst might i add
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 00:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16902735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flightless_Bird/pseuds/Flightless_Bird
Summary: “So, how is your new boyfriend doing anyway? We’ve all be so curious.”“My what?” Dana asked around the lip of the aluminum can.“Your boyfriend, dear,” Mandy repeated helpfully. “Kevin?”Dana snorted soda out of her nose and all over the counter.”





	Bloodstains

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Yes, I am still writing this! :D   
> I took a break as life and school got in the way, but I recently have been re-obsessed with Kevin, and decided to add another story to this series. It was supposed to be short, as all the little stories are, but then well, i got carried away. 
> 
> I put words meant to be in italics in /these/ instead, because archive always screws with my italics and i am sad. 
> 
> I hope that anyone following this enjoys this latest piece and if you’re new, thank you for dropping by! Let me know what you liked if you have a moment :3

“Hello, Dana!”

Dana tried very hard not to groan in despair when she heard the cheery voice behind her. Mandy was a wonderful Night Vale citizen, and dedicated to bettering her community. She just…well she was…her personality type was very /Lauren Mallard/ and /obnoxious PTA mom./

Mustering up her best smile, Dana turned around and waved at the woman behind her in line. “Oh, hi, Mandy! How are you?”

“I’m just fine, thank you!” Mandy chirped back. She placed her non-wheat, wheat bread and a few kids’-sized clothes onto the cashier’s conveyor belt, next to Dana’s purchases. Of course, her nosiness got the better of her and she craned her neck to peer at Dana’s things.

Dana inwardly rolled her eyes.

“Oh my, Dana, I never thought of you as the, ah…knife play type,” Mandy commented.

“The /what?/” Dana demanded, almost dropping the can of soda she was sipping from.

“Well, you’re buying an awfully expensive set, and those decorations are a little…”

The cashier tossed Dana a curious glance and Dana just about threw those “awfully expensive” knives at Mandy’s face. “I don’t really think they’re that expensive,” she tried instead. “And the decorations aren’t inappropriate, they’re Night Vale’s moon and Desert Bluff’s sun, together.” Her smile now was genuine. She was a great gift-giver, if she did say so herself. Had this throwing set custom-made, free of Strex symbols and old blood.

Mandy hummed, not denying what Dana said, but certainly not agreeing either. Luckily, the situation seemed to have put her at ease enough to shut up and go back to her own shopping needs. Relieved, Dana took another sip of her soda.

“So, how /is/ your new boyfriend doing anyway? We’ve all be so curious.”

“My what?” Dana asked around the lip of the aluminum can.

“Your /boyfriend/, dear,” Mandy repeated helpfully. “Kevin?”

Dana snorted soda out of her nose and all over the counter. The sentient block of wood that was their cashier grumbled in annoyance.

“Oh my,” Mandy remarked.

“D—did you—? Are you really—? Are you—?” Coughing, Dana wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her old NVCR hoodie and tried to collect herself. “…did you say /Kevin?/”

“Why yes.”

“Weird-old-man-next-door Kevin? Or radio-host Kevin?”

“The radio host, of course.”

/Oh my shit./ Dana rubbed at her temples. “I… Okay, no. Mandy, /no/. I’m sorry, but I think you misunderstood.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mandy replied, dripping false concern. “I didn’t realize the two of you were keeping it quiet.”

“There’s nothing to keep quiet,” Dana quipped quickly. “Kev and I aren’t dating.”

Mandy—/that fricking bitch/—cooed, “awww, you guys have pet names? What’s yours?”

Dana really wanted to break in those throwing knives. “Mandy,” she said, “You’ve got it wrong. Kev and—Kevin and I are /just friends./”

“Oh, but I heard from Earl about a week ago that the two of you were getting together for a date or something?”

“It wasn’t a date—we were just hanging out.”

“But you’ve been spending so much time together. I heard you on his show yesterday morning. You really mean you’re not…?”

“Mandy,” Dana said, trying to gentle her voice this time. Maybe being aggressive wasn’t the right path here. “We’re really just friends. Good friends. Besides, Kevin’s gay.”

Mandy blinked in disappointment, losing her chance to spread more gossip. “But— How do you know that?”

Averting her eyes, Dana lost a touch of gentleness. “He told me he liked a man before he came here,” she said, polite but short. “The rest of that is personal,” she added at Mandy’s intake of eager breath. “All you need to know is he’s not interested, and we are /not/ dating.”

Finally, Mandy seemed to realize she shouldn’t push for much more.

Dana slid her gift to the cashier and wondered why she still felt bothered.

 

XXXXXXXXXX

 

“Hey, Kevin! I got something for you! And you won’t /believe/ what Mandy said today!” Dana bounced lightly on her toes outside Kevin’s door, holding the wrapped bag in her hands. From behind the door, she heard some footsteps, some curious chirping, and then the door swung open. She instantly grinned in delight—Kevin was wearing an old Desert Bluffs Community Radio tee, something that was obviously from pre-Strex and much-loved.

“Aw, Dana,” Kevin sighed, stitched mouth turning up as he accepted the gift she offered. “You didn’t have to get me anything. It’s not even my birthday.”

“I just wanted you to feel more welcome,” she replied. Then she pointed sternly at him. “But don’t open it yet. I want you to hear this story first. …can I come in?”

“Sure.” Kevin held the paper bag carefully, as though he was afraid of breaking it. It was incredibly endearing.

Dana trailed after him into the apartment and gazed around her for a bit. It was still pretty hollow, but it was starting to feel more homey now. There was a new birdcage near the window, left open for Nessa to come and go. Right now, she perched on the windowsill, preening. New rug, lavender, and a small television. A small, folded piece of paper rested on the coffee table, corners worn and stained with years-old bloodstains. Dana cocked her head, drifting toward it.

Suddenly, Kevin seemed to notice and intercepted, picking up the paper and slipping it into his pocket. “Um, so,” he coughed into his hand, “what—what did you hear from Mandy today?”

Sensing that this wasn’t something to be asked about, Dana shifted to pleasant friendliness. “Okay, so you’re not gonna believe this,” she began, chuckling. Kevin had taken a seat on the couch and she leaned against the back of it, using her hands to help narrate. “But she thought I was buying things for…well, for sex.”

Kevin shot the paper bag a concerned glance. “What the hell did you buy me?”

“That’s not important right now.”

“I kinda think it is.”

“No. I’m the mayor, I decide.”

“You’re the mayor and you’re buying your citizens sex toys.”

“They are /not/ sex toys! You’re missing the point, okay—” Shaking her head, she covered her eyes with a hand and laughed. “She thought you and I…were /dating./”

Kevin burst out laughing. “/What?!/”

“I know, right?”

“Oh my God.” He ran his hands through his hair, tipping his head back on the couch. “Can you imagine what some people would say?” Suddenly straightening up, he struck a serious pose and intoned, “dear listeners, this just in, you are all personally invited to the wedding of the Mayor of Night Vale, Dana Cardinal and local Strex rebel, Kevin.”

“/Kevin!/” Dana snorted. “Holy shit, you sound just like Cecil!”

“I’ve been working on my impression of him, in case I have to pretend to be him so that the Secret Police let me go outside.”

“Good thinking on that one,” she joked, with a note of sympathy behind her words. She wished so badly that the citizens of Night Vale would be more accepting of Desert Bluffs people, especially Kevin. He was so hated sometimes, and she knew it hurt.

Sitting back against the cushions again, Kevin smiled up at her. “So what did you tell Mandy, anyway?”

“Oh.” She flapped a hand. “I just told her it wasn’t true and that there wasn’t really any possibility, in case she tried to talk about me hiding something or..whatever it is she tells her friends about me.”

“Not a possibility?” he echoed, wrinkling his nose. “Ouch, that’s a little harsh.”

“You know what I mean,” she chuckled. “You’re gay, and she’s just nosy like that. I don’t know w—”

“Wait, what?”

“What?”

“You told her I’m gay?”

Dana immediately lost her humor. “Oh— I mean. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that was something you weren’t open about. You seemed okay with it, but that’s no excuse, of course, I’m sorry, Kevin.” She bit her lip, feeling like such a jerk.

But Kevin was just staring at her in confusion. “Dana,” he said slowly, “I’m not gay.”

“I know, I just— /wait, you’re not?/”

He shook his head.

She had to take some time to digest this. “But…you said youreally liked Carlos, in the Otherworld.”

“I did.” His eyes dropped away, embarrassed.

“So, I assumed.”

“Dana, before I ever came to Night Vale, I was in a relationship with a woman.”

Dana mouth wouldn’t close. /I am such an idiot./

“You’re…”

“Bi,” he finished, with an amused crook of the mouth.

/So there is a possibility. Wait, why—? Shut up, Dana./ She nodded shortly. “Oh. Oops. All of Night Vale might think you’re gay tomorrow, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t mind,” he laughed again.

The two sat in amicable silence for a moment, Dana taking in what she’d learned and Kevin gazing out the window. Dana looked to him again, watched the way he picked at his stitches. “Where is she now?” she asked quietly. “Your girlfriend. Did she come to Night Vale with us?”

“No,” he said, a strange tilt to his words. “She didn’t survive the Strex takeover in Desert Bluffs.”

Dana’s heart clenched. He never spoke of the takeover, besides short references. She knew better than to ask. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured.

“It’s okay. It was early. She—um.” He rubbed at his right eye. “They didn’t have a chance to make her into them.”

“We don’t have to talk about the takeover, if you don’t want to,” Dana hushed.

He nodded.

“Do you mind if I ask you about her?”

“No, that’s fine.”

“How’d you two meet?”

He broke into a half-smile, passing her a fond glance. “She was my intern.”

“Oooh, scandalous,” Dana remarked, and he rolled his eyes with good humor. She picked at a piece of lint on the couch’s back. “Can I ask you something a little personal? You can say no, and you can refuse, if you don’t like the question.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Were you in love?” Kevin gave her a weird look and she dropped her head into her hands. “Ugh, never mind. I thought— I don’t know what I thought. I guess I wondered if you remembered after… Never mind.”

“Yes.”

Lifting her head, Dana stared at him, something twisting painfully within her. Kevin’s eyes were glowing soft, sad yellow. “I was very in love,” he mumbled, picking at the hem of his shirt.

Dana reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything. There weren’t enough apologies for what StrexCorp had taken from them.

After beats of silence, Kevin took her hand in his and held it tight enough to hurt.


End file.
